Consider the Hero Miles Program this Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day in the United States, a holiday set aside to honor U.S. soldiers who have died while in military service.

This is not a blog to debate the merits of war and peace, to dissect statecraft and foreign policy, or to quarrel about patriotism and partisanship. History records both nobility and barbarism and it would be improper to gloss over the paradoxical nature of war and its ramifications on each of our lives.

But on this day, on this blog, I want to say thank you to the soldiers who have laid down their lives in defense of the Constitution of the United States. More than anything else, it was Shakespeare’s Henry V that led me to join the military. There was something about King Henry’s Saint Crispin’s Day Speech that encompassed every reason why I wanted to serve. My time in the military is now over and thankfully, I emerged unscathed. Unfortunately, many have not–including some that I knew.

a red heart with blue text While we cannot bring soldiers back from the dead, we can help wounded soldiers and their families by donating our frequent flyer miles. The Fisher House Foundation’s Hero Miles program provides free airline tickets to military men and women who are undergoing treatment at a military or VA medical center incident to their service in Iraq or Afghanistan, and to their families.

Your donated miles would go toward:

Service men and women with an approved leave of five or more days may be given a free round trip airline ticket for a trip from the medical center to their home and return if they are not eligible for government funded airfare.
Qualifying service men and women may be given free round trip airline tickets to enable their family or close friends to visit them while they are being treated at the medical center.

Participating airlines include:

Please consider participating in this program. It seems like a rather painless way to say “thanks.” Remember, it’s not the soldiers who vote to go to war.